Maldives President (and Former Prisoner of Conscience) Resigns

Mohammad Nasheed, a former Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience, resigned today as President of Maldives. He was the first democratically elected President of the country, following decades of dictatorship in the country. He was instrumental in highlighting the case for action against climate change, going so far as to hold a cabinet meeting underwater.

His supporters and media reports are stating that it was basically a coup by the military and opposition supporters.

The latest tensions arose after the government of the Maldives erected monuments of the nations of South Asia gathering for a regional summit meeting. Radical clerics accused the government of attempting to permit other religious groups in the country because of the non-Islamic artistic elements in the artwork.

Security forces and protesters allied to the opposition stormed the state media center and are now holding several journalists hostage while playing homages to the former President Abdul Gayoom. Last month, the Army arrested a Supreme Court judge, cementing the paralysis that has gripped the political scene since Nasheed’s election.

In a televised address to the nation, Nasheed said:

“It will be better for the country in the current situation if I resign. I don’t want to run the country with an iron fist. I am resigning.”

We in Amnesty International will continue to monitor the crisis in Maldives and work to ensure that human rights are protected in the days, weeks and months to come.

UPDATE: Amnesty International has issued a call to the new government of Maldives not to persecute members of the outgoing government and to immediately clarify the whereabouts of the former President. Furthermore, we are calling on the Maldivian authorities to investigate the attacks on MDP members. Mariya Didi, Eva Abdulla and Alham Fahmy sustained serious injuries after being attacked by police and opposition supporters on Monday and were taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital for treatment.

About Govind Acharya

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27 thoughts on “Maldives President (and Former Prisoner of Conscience) Resigns”

Mariya Didi, Eva Abdulla and Alham Fahmy came with thugs with weapons to attack the police. What do you expect. They attacked with knives and steel pipes and one young policeman is in intensive care unit from serious injuries due to this act. We need to investigate and prosecute Mariya Didi, Eva Abdulla and Alham Fahmy.
There aren't any journalists held as hostage or any homage to the former President Abdul Gayoom. He is long gone and no one wants him back.
Amnesty should visit us more often and see to yourselves whats going on.
Nasheed was playing above the rule. Crisis is over after his resignation.
These were the public not radical Muslims. Please publish correct information.
All are equal and should be treated the same.

MNDF is shot rubber bullet to innocent people while taking state TV station. not a single media covered that incident. police arrest several MP and given them to angry protesters. nothing could be verified in maldives as militry is hijeck media. And military is threating people in the street last night.

Mariya Didi, Eva Abdulla and Alham Fahmy came with thugs with weapons to attack the police. What do you expect. They attacked with knives and steel pipes and one young policeman is in intensive care unit from serious injuries due to this act. We need to investigate and prosecute Mariya Didi, Eva Abdulla and Alham Fahmy.
There aren’t any journalists held as hostage or any homage to the former President Abdul Gayoom. He is long gone and no one wants him back.
Amnesty should visit us more often and see to yourselves whats going on.
Nasheed was playing above the rule. Crisis is over after his resignation.
These were the public not radical Muslims. Please publish correct information.
All are equal and should be treated the same.

MNDF is shot rubber bullet to innocent people while taking state TV station. not a single media covered that incident. police arrest several MP and given them to angry protesters. nothing could be verified in maldives as militry is hijeck media. And military is threating people in the street last night.

Hey Ali Rasheed, Crisis is Over huh! Crisis just began. Your new government headed by a puppet Dr. Waheed but ruled by the maldivian mafia have brutally beaten the MDP protesters today only hours ago. The most brutal act that Maldivians have seen to date. This is the act from the cronies of Maumoon, the dictator is back.

ali rasheed is wrong. i was there the whole time and witnessed the event until 6:30 PM on February 8 2012. No one came with any weapons. We can search online for videos of the protest which took place yesterday. old men, women were beaten till they were bleeding. Youtube has lots of them right now. haveeru.com and sun.mv has pictures and videos of this brutal act against MDP members.

Amnesty should be careful of being misled by feeds from MDP, the deceitful ex-president and his thugs. It is Ex-President Nasheed who locked up the courts, it he who had the Chief Judge detained, it is he who stated that he did not recognise the courts, it is he who ignored calls for the release of the detained judge, it is he who repeated harassed and detained political opponents, it is he who exercised violence over the opposition rallies for 22 days, when finally, the security forces refused to back his orders to beat up the police who came out to demonstarte against his unconstitutional orders, he had no option but back down. Possible he came to his senses after his his resignation. From the amount of drugs discovered at his official residence after his departure, it is plaudible that it could take about 24 hours for him to come to his senses. With the criminal he released it is he who led the protest against the police today. No one disrupted their party meeting held at Dharubaaruge. From the meeting, he led his thugs to the square to confront the police. As he had always done, he is now putting a spin. With all the violence, no word from him to his thugs to exercise restraint. Something obviously he wouldn't understand. This man had cleverly hood winked the world. UK media reported President ordered Spas to be opened as if the balme was on someone else for their closure. Contrary to the credit, it was Nasheed who ordered their closure and the closures were avoided when the courts ruled against his orders.

just take a look at the videos of actions which took place today in Male', that would be enough. it can clearly be seen that the MDP protestors were innocent and without any weapons or what so ever. Never have i ever seen such a brutal day in Maldives. The people who were supposed to protect & serve (MNDF & Police) were beating up innocent people. No respect for President Mohamed Nasheed, the police took him into custody, pushing him.

Greetings all: AI does not take sides in a political dispute. However, the security forces of the new government must follow all relevant human rights standards, which includes allowing peaceful protest even if the current government and security forces dislikes those protesters.

Hey Ali Rasheed, Crisis is Over huh! Crisis just began. Your new government headed by a puppet Dr. Waheed but ruled by the maldivian mafia have brutally beaten the MDP protesters today only hours ago. The most brutal act that Maldivians have seen to date. This is the act from the cronies of Maumoon, the dictator is back.

ali rasheed is wrong. i was there the whole time and witnessed the event until 6:30 PM on February 8 2012. No one came with any weapons. We can search online for videos of the protest which took place yesterday. old men, women were beaten till they were bleeding. Youtube has lots of them right now. haveeru.com and sun.mv has pictures and videos of this brutal act against MDP members.

Amnesty should be careful of being misled by feeds from MDP, the deceitful ex-president and his thugs. It is Ex-President Nasheed who locked up the courts, it he who had the Chief Judge detained, it is he who stated that he did not recognise the courts, it is he who ignored calls for the release of the detained judge, it is he who repeated harassed and detained political opponents, it is he who exercised violence over the opposition rallies for 22 days, when finally, the security forces refused to back his orders to beat up the police who came out to demonstarte against his unconstitutional orders, he had no option but back down. Possible he came to his senses after his his resignation. From the amount of drugs discovered at his official residence after his departure, it is plaudible that it could take about 24 hours for him to come to his senses. With the criminal he released it is he who led the protest against the police today. No one disrupted their party meeting held at Dharubaaruge. From the meeting, he led his thugs to the square to confront the police. As he had always done, he is now putting a spin. With all the violence, no word from him to his thugs to exercise restraint. Something obviously he wouldn’t understand. This man had cleverly hood winked the world. UK media reported President ordered Spas to be opened as if the balme was on someone else for their closure. Contrary to the credit, it was Nasheed who ordered their closure and the closures were avoided when the courts ruled against his orders.

just take a look at the videos of actions which took place today in Male’, that would be enough. it can clearly be seen that the MDP protestors were innocent and without any weapons or what so ever. Never have i ever seen such a brutal day in Maldives. The people who were supposed to protect & serve (MNDF & Police) were beating up innocent people. No respect for President Mohamed Nasheed, the police took him into custody, pushing him.

Greetings all: AI does not take sides in a political dispute. However, the security forces of the new government must follow all relevant human rights standards, which includes allowing peaceful protest even if the current government and security forces dislikes those protesters.

This is disgusting. I have seen the footage. Who has bankrolled this coup? My bet is on resorts owners (ex Gayroom supporters). Huge step backward for democracy in Maldives. They need to have a very well supervised election ASAP.

This is disgusting. I have seen the footage. Who has bankrolled this coup? My bet is on resorts owners (ex Gayroom supporters). Huge step backward for democracy in Maldives. They need to have a very well supervised election ASAP.